Monday, 9 May 2016

Bullet Planning...

Bullet Planning in the style of Boho Berry

I'd watched a few videos from the Boho Berry YT channel, was amazed at her beautifully scripted planner and thought I had to try this style of organising myself. Sometimes I just have to try out a method to really get the feel of it and know whether it's right for me.

From the July '16 NAB sub box I received a lovely small squared notebook with pencil, held together with a purple/green elastic. It sat on the notebook shelf (yes, I have that many unused notebooks) for five months before I decided it was perfect for bullet planning and would take the place of a mini diary/calendar I kept in my handbag/purse. The image on the left shows it new and pristine and on the right after five months of hard use. Sticky tape holds the curled corners together and the pencil has been replaced by a mini gel pen. There's enough space left in the notebook to take me up to the end of July'16. My notebook is squared but Boho Berry suggests a Leuchtturm1917 Notebook (A5, Dot Grid) which you can find here on Amazon.

Bullet Planner code and daily log

There is a 'code', a series of symbols which are standard for bullet planning:

a dot which signifies something to do

a circle which signifies an event

a dash which signifies information

an asterisk which can be drawn over the top of a dot or a circle and which signifies something important which can't be rescheduled

an 'x' which is drawn through a dot or circle whenever they've been completed

a long line through the text signifying that whatever it is isn't worth my time

a forward arrow signifying it's been rescheduled

a backward arrow signifying it's been added to the Future Log

The last two symbols are part of what's called 'Migration'. I rarely used the backward arrow and stopped using a Future Log (double page spread with space given up to six months ahead). Although these symbols are pretty standard there's always room for you to create your own. My handwriting can become large and frenzied when I'm rushed or stressed and is the complete antithesis to the beautiful script of Boho Berry. But there's a challenge she and friends run each month which I'll be posting about this coming Friday.

It can be difficult finding a page with a particular date so it's good practice to create an Index. The above is the second index in my bullet planner, each holding up to three or four month's of daily log dates (double pages given over to a single week), but it's best to watch the Boho Berry videos !! I tend to use any black pen I can lay my hand on but she uses a series of beautiful fountain pens with artisan inks making every page in her bullet planner a work of art. I have writing envy. Some bullet planners also offer downloadable pre-printed sheets to work from in their etsy shops.

other pages in my bullet journal

I use my bullet journal for other things too, S.A.V.E.R.S. morning routine (which so far I've only halfheartedly embraced), my House D.I.Y. lists and any other project that needs broken down to achieve. I'd be interested in trying out the dotted pages that many bullet planners use as it is also perfect for good writing practice. Although my notebook is starting to fall apart and my every day handwriting needs tweaked I will still persevere with my bullet journal. It feeds that part of me that isn't about decorative planning.

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About Me

Hi there and welcome to my arty blog. I'm a visual artist with a disability who is a board member of charity University of Atypical. I aim to post something once a week - usually art related but often about my other interests too...and I do like an art challenge! Thanks for stopping by..